Presentations

This presentation was made to the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Hove, UK on 18th March, 2011 and stimulated a discussion of the the relevance of Western medical models to health-effective services in low-resources settings or settings that have different service-models. The purpose was to demonstrate the problems with the technical solutions to medical challenges in physical, mental, and social illness in diverse environments and to pinpoint the lessons that the West has forgotten with the reliance on pharmaceutical products to treat disease while forgetting to address the larger issue of illness. In the discussion that followed, it was identified that a rights-based approach—as typical in South Africa and South America—has had greater effect in getting health-oriented services as opposed to Western, physician-centred and disease-oriented services. It was concluded that this framework should be explored in future work. Dr. Rupert Whitaker gives his particular thanks to Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, Executive Director of the Alliance; Siddo Deva, Programme Manager, Asia; and Ted Nierras, Head of Team: Asia and Eastern Europe.

1010-PR1.1: Public participation in medicine and translational science: The key to health-effective services

This presentation was made at the Institute of Health Research of the Peninsula School of Medicine and Dentistry, Exeter, England, on 22nd of October, 2010, by Dr. Rupert Whitaker with the purpose of providing an overview of the potential role of public participation in medicine and translational medical science. Key points include the following: 1) that medicine is not fit-for-purpose with its current model, and why; 2) the significance of this to British government policy in the White Paper of 2010; 3) the pillars of health-effective services; 4) the need for integrated practice; 5) the role of participative medical practice and participative medical governance; 6) linking medical practice with medical science through the role of public participation; 7) HIV research as an exemplary failure in translational medical science, and why; 8) the cycle of medical practice and medical science; 9) a research portfolio indicating key points of leverage in changing the system for public benefit; 10) the upcoming Research Excellence Framework (UK) and the role of the Tuke Institute in delivering such excellence; 11) the potential for partnership between an academic institution and a non-profit community-oriented organisation focused on evidence-based policy in medicine and medical science, such as the Tuke Institute.

0910-PR1.1: The use of patient-data: Exploring public participation in research

This presentation was made at the request of the National Institute of Health’s Research Capability Programme at the Northwest European Regional Workshop of Patient-Partner-Europe in Westminster, London, on 11th October 2009. The author, Dr. Whitaker, was asked by the Department of Health to design the framework for public participation in the planned national system for medical research so as to maximise public benefit, particularly health-outcomes. This task was successfully completed and the presentation is an overview of, and rationale for, that work.